Roller Derby World Cup - Manchester 2018
The third Roller Derby World Cup (RDWC) was held at Manchester's Event City between the 1st and 4th of February 2018, hosted by Rainy City Roller Derby. 38 teams from across the world competed for the title, up from 30 in Dallas and 13 at the first World Cup in Toronto in 2011. Team Puerto Rico made the decision not to travel to Manchester due to hurricane Maria, whilst Team Baltic and Israel put on an exhibition match instead of competing. There was also a junior's bout to showcase up-and-coming talent.
The big four, USA, Australia, England and Canada all made the semi-finals as expected. The USA taking the title for the third time after a hard fought game against Australia, while Canada took third after beating England in the 3/4 playoff. The skill level and tactics across all teams was higher than last time providing for exciting games especially in the ranking bouts.
For the second competition running I was privileged to be shooting for Team England once again, primarily covering their bouts but also the competition as a whole. Below are a selection of photographs from the event. The full albums can be found on my Facebook page.
Spain line up with Team USA for a photograph at the end of their bout.
England pose for a team photograph at the practice session on the Wednesday night before the World Cup.
Scotland face down the haka.
Mexico take on Switzerland in one of the preliminary rounds at the World Cup.
A Team Indigenous jammer playing in one of the early rounds.
Announcers strike a pose after commentating on a bout. The announcers worked in shifts to cover all games 'in-house' and on the live stream for fans at home.
The French fans came over in force to support their team, making one hell of a noise when supporting their team.
The Fearleaders from Vienna Roller Derby perform one of their routines during the half-time of the final, much to the delight of the spectators.
The photo crew line up to capture the winners, Team USA raise the trophy for the third time. Photographers from all over the world travelled to Manchester to document the event.
Loren Mutch jamming for Team USA.
Bonnie Thunders (340) jamming for the USA weaves through Australia's pack with just Lauren Foote (66) to beat.
Scald Eagle (50) jamming for the USA in the final against Australia.
Ella Storey (07) jamming for England tries to make room to get through the Swedish pack in England's quarter final bout.
Skaters from Team Mexico get ready for a bout.
Ella Story (07) jamming for England against Australia in the semi final, a bout they eventually lost.
Canadian players block Greece's jammer.
Fans and photographers take a break between bouts.
Team members from both England (Alex Valentine and Jack Attack) and Australia pose for a selfie before their semi-final bout.
Marechal jamming for Canada in their bout against Russia.
Spanish skaters preparing for a bout.
England take on Mexico in one of the early rounds.
Russia took on Romania in a placement bout, both teams were new to the World Cup.
Austria prepare for their bout against England.
